Dolphins Tampered With Tom Brady While He Was Still With Patriots: NFL

MIAMI, FL — The NFL has fined Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross $1.5 million, and stripped his football team of two upcoming draft picks for tampering with Tom Brady and former Saints coach Sean Payton from 2019-2o22.

The team's first interactions with Brady came during the 2019 season, while he was still under contract with the New England Patriots, the league said. A second interaction happened after the 2021 season, while he was under contract with Tampa Bay.

Miami was notified of the league's decision on Tuesday, which included a forfeiture of the team's 2023 first-round pick and 2024 third-round. Ross, in addition to the fine, is suspended through Oct. 17.

Ross and the team are said to have violated the league's anti-tampering policy on three occasions between 2019 and 2022. This finding comes after a six-month investigation into the aforementioned tampering, and also into the claims made by former Patriots assistant and Dolphins head coach Brian Flores that Ross asked him to lose games.

The league found no evidence of purposeful "tanking", nor any that Ross offered Flores financial incentives to do so, according to a report published by the league.

One claim in particular caught fire when Flores initially raised the issue, which is that Ross offered him $100,000 for each game lost. The league addressed this, stating that Ross did emphasize at one point that draft picks should take priority over win, which he eventually relented on, the league said.

When it comes to the $100,000 offer, though, the league said there are "differing recollections about wording, timing, and context. The league said, however, that the remark wasn't intended to be serious, according to their findings.